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May 26, 2011

G50: Red Sox 14, Tigers 1 (7½, rain)

Carl Crawford had four hits for the second day in a row (two triples among the hits today), David Ortiz had two hits and two walks and scored three times, Jacoby Ellsbury belted a three-run home run, and Aceves turned in six strong innings (6-5-1-2-6, 98).

Boston beat Cleveland 14-2 on Wednesday. The last time the Red Sox scored 14+ runs in back-to-back games was July 2-3, 1998 against the Expos (15-0) and White Sox (15-2). (Then, after being shutout 3-0 by the White Sox on July 4, the Red Sox prevailed in a July 5 slugfest 15-14 (Dario Veras???).)

We were worried a possible rainstorm might sabotage our one in-person game this year, but when we got to the park, we actually had to use sunscreen. The clouds gathered overheard soon after the first pitch, however. After four innings, with rain clearly on its way, we thought we'd beat the rush and move to seats under the overhang. And we immediately snagged two cushioned chairs with tons of leg room and a little bench in front of us, perfect for scoring pens and drinks! The steady mist/drizzle continued for a few innings, and the Sox tacked on five more runs before the tarp came out.

Josh Reddick, called up as Darnell McDonald (left quad strain) was placed on the disabled list, went 3-for-5, with 3 RBI and two runs scored. Drew Sutton hit a pair of doubles and drove in two runs.

It was the eighth time in Crawford's career he has had two triples in one game, and the first since July 2008. Today was the 31st time Crawford has collected four hits in a game, but he had never had four in consecutive games until this week.

6 comments:

The 4th inning pitch Alex Avila fouled off to run the count to 0-2, right before he singled in the Tigers' only run, was skied right to where we were originally sitting. Like it hit the floor next to the guy on my left. If either of us had a glove, it would have been an easy catch, though it seemed to approach us much quicker than an average pop-up. Sans glove, I froze with my scorecard and pen, and leaned out of the way.

Neither NESN nor the Tigers feed followed the ball, so there is no way anyone can convincingly argue that my "lean" was actually a "cringe". Thus, I contend the lean was more an act of bravery, as I protected Laura from harm, shielding her body with my own.

I had some strange idea that if it rained out in the middle of an inning, it reverted to the score at the bottom of the previous inning. Or am I thinking about a game called before the end of any half-inning, say with 2 outs, it goes back to the last completed frame?